Driving fintech innovation with Visa Europe Collab?

Visa Europe Collab is the recently launched innovation hub for Visa Europe, and we’re here to find the most promising new ideas in financial technology. As our name suggests, Visa Europe Collab is all about collaboration and we want to help startups turn their ideas into commercial reality.

Visa is in a unique position to do this. We have the scale, the expertise and now, through Visa Europe Collab, we have a community and network partners. Alongside us, our partners will provide the mentoring, advice and practical experience to guide and develop the entrepreneurs and startups who are changing the face of our industry. We have recently launched hubs in Tel Aviv and Berlin – and we have plans to expand further. Working with our partners, we’ll develop new proof of concepts with startups to test new payment solutions, with the goal of potential deployment among our network of banks, retailers and consumers across Europe.

Its been a great first few months. From a standing start, we have now established relationships with over 200 startups – 25 of which have entered our 100-day innovation sprint. We have already had two projects taken to full proof-of-concept stage. The first of these was the Contactless Giving Tin, developed in partnership with Save the Children and the Charities Aid Foundation. An innovative collection tin enabling consumers to donate funds to charity by simply using their contactless Visa card – a result of our vision to foster payments innovation. Other areas of focus in our taxonomy of innovation include: blockchain, wearables, new methods of authentication and many more.

One of the things I am most excited about is what we can achieve with the help of our community of partners. We have already held some great events with startup accelerator,?Mass Challenge?and, with?Digital Catapult, we have identified ideas that will potentially change the payments landscape for the better.?As our community grows, it will help us seek out more great ideas and provide more support to help turn those ideas into a reality.

In July, 2015, together with our partners at The Accelerator Network, we look for the next generation of ideas that will reduce payments friction for consumers. We have launched a new?competition?looking at three specific areas – Digital Me, Data Me and Group Payments – each designed to address a problem consumers have with the way they pay. The categories are looking at three issues in the payments sector – sharing data online, storing data online, and the often complicated task of splitting the bill for dinner with group payments.??If you think you have a solution that can help solve some of these problems – we want to hear from you.?

About Niamh de Niese

Niamh de Niese is Director of Innovation Delivery at international innovation hub Visa Europe Collab, a position she has held since its launch earlier in 2015. Niamh is accountable for the end-to-end delivery of Visa Europe Collab’s innovation pipeline which consists of over 200 individual ideas. Niamh’s role involves her working with a wide range of partners at a senior level, including startups, retailers and banks.

Prior to her role at Visa Europe Collab, Niamh held positions in Visa Europe, such as Vice President Programme Director for its digital targeted marketing loyalty programme, and was head of the business consulting and analysis department. Niamh has over 15 years’ experience working in the financial services, digital payments, retail, and management consulting sectors delivering large-scale multi-million euro change programmes.

About Visa Europe Collab

Operating out of London’s Tech City, Tel Aviv and Berlin, Visa Europe Collab brings together an international community of partners and innovators, to identify the most exciting new ideas in payments, and help develop them into commercial reality. With our community’s help, we’ll forge the ideas, technologies and services that will transform people’s lives. We’ll help the companies we work with by nurturing their talents, developing their potential, and giving them access to the tools and the connections to grow their businesses and their ideas. In addition, through the Visa Europe team, we’ll help them roll out their services to our network of banks, retailers and consumers across Europe.